Why The Hell Do You Care?
by Little Miss Fiendfyre
Summary: Something awful has happened to Draco and Hermione is the only person who will listen. Deals with dark themes. Rated M for language and trigger warnings.
1. Chapter 1

**I'm not even sure if I should have posted this or not. I was in a really dark place when I wrote this and it deals with a really serious issue. Tell me if I should continue or not but most likely, I will take this down.**

**P.S. Draco is really OOC in this but I wanted to show how a person can change drastically and practically become someone else when something traumatic has happened to them.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.**

Sighing loudly, Hermione Granger heaved open the portrait of the Head Boy and Girl dorms. She didn't even need to look around for the Head Boy, Draco Malfoy. As per usual and much to her imminent relief, he was currently absent. Probably in bed with some other girl which is where he normally was at this time of evening every Saturday. The weekly routine of Draco Malfoy had become something that Hermione had found fascinating. It looked to her, that he spent more time in someone else's bed than his own. For some reason he never brought anyone back to his own room which she was thankful for but also intrigued by. A boy that got around as much as he did _had_ to have taken someone back to his own room at least once.

She shrugged off her robe, revealing a deep purple blouse and pair of three-quarter length jeans, and kicked off her shoes before stretching out on the sofa directly in front of the fireplace. She had spent the entire day in the library helping Harry and Ron with their Divination essays which she had ended up practically writing for them. The only difference being the two of them copying what she had written out in their own words. Her face fell at the thought of having to repeat the entire process tomorrow as the boys had decided to start their Defence against the Dark Arts homework. She had finished the three foot essay on mermaids the previous week, on the day they had been set it, but obviously her two friends had waited until the last minute before even attempting it. As much as the brown haired Gryffindor loved her two friends, they were annoying and needy when it came to things like homework and their upcoming exams. She often scolded herself for being too lenient with the two boys.

She opened her bag and pulled out her favourite book _Hogwarts: A History. _Flicking to a particularly interesting page on the enchanted ceiling in the Great Hall, she deposited her feet on the coffee table and started to read. After about twenty minutes of being lost in her own thoughts and not even paying attention to the words in the book, Hermione eventually drifted off to sleep. As it was springtime, the sun was only just going down at eight o clock and the shafts of sunlight broke through the long windows, falling on her face. Sleeping, Hermione Granger's face was the picture of serene and for once in her life, she seemed completely at ease. She hadn't had much time to herself as of late; with researching horcruxes, running around after Harry and Ron, arguing with Draco and, homework pretty much completely taking over her life.

She woke to the sound of Draco slamming the door to his room upon his return at exactly half past nine, the earliest he'd ever gotten back by. Sitting up abruptly, she heaved a frustrated sigh and proceeded to put her book back into her bag and headed over to the small kitchenette situated at the rear of the room. She opened the cupboard and got out her favourite mug, a red one with the quote "Intelligence without ambition is a bird without wings." printed on it that she'd gotten for Christmas from her mother in fifth year.

After making herself a hot chocolate, she waved her wand at the record player in the corner which immediately jumped to life and started playing Fur Elise by Beethoven at a relatively loud volume. She really didn't care what Draco would think about this. He could complain about her music tastes until he went blue in the face for all she cared. Passing the tall blond boy's room, she listened intently for any sounds of his complaining but was only met with a strange sniffing sound, making her cut off the music just to find out what the noise was. After listening for a few seconds with her ear tilted rather close to the door of his room she realised what she was hearing.

He was crying. Draco Malfoy was in his room, crying.

Hermione had never even _heard_ _of _Malfoy crying never mind _actually hearing_ him cry in person. Now, normally, she would have turned around and walked away due to the fact that he had made her cry on more than a number of different occasions, but today she felt she had to do something. If Malfoy was crying then it must have been something pretty big as he never showed even a flicker of emotion towards her, except maybe anger and malice. Ignoring her better judgement, she set her now-lukewarm chocolate down on the coffee table and sheepishly knocked on his door. All noise on the other side of the door stopped. After a few moments of uncomfortable silence, he finally spoke.

"What the fuck do you want, Granger?"

"I… I just wanted to know if you were okay." she answered with a small wince. Wrong choice of words.

"What?"

"Are you okay, Malfoy?" She heard shuffling on the other side of the door before it opened in front of her. His eyes were slightly red and puffy. If he was going to try and cover this up, he was going to fail miserably. The evidence was written all over his face.

"Why the hell do you care? You usually couldn't give a shit about me."

"That's only when you're being a twat. This is different. I'm not about to ignore someone who is very clearly upset about something."

"I'm not upset." He relaxed, leaning against the door frame.

"Oh really? So those red eyes are just for decoration are they?" she remarked with a slight smirk. The corner of his mouth twitched as his eyes fell to the floor. Looking past him, she could see that his room was a mess. She wrinkled her nose in disgust as he spoke again.

"Shut up. Just leave me alone." He moved to close the door in her face.

"Oh no you don't, Draco Malfoy! We are not done here." she barged past him, much to his surprise, and made a point to stand as tall as she could to show that he couldn't intimidate him.

"I'm pretty sure we never started _Hermione_." he sneered as he said her name, giving her shivers. "Get out of my room."

"Not until you tell me what is so wrong that you aren't even making an attempt to upset me in any way. Usually you would have said something hateful about Harry and Ron at this point, but you haven't even tried to insult any of us. There is definitely something wrong. I can tell." she finished, staring straight into his dark eyes.

"There is nothing fucking wrong Granger! Now leave!" His fists clenched, leaving nail marks in the skin on his palms.

"Why were you crying?" He turned away from her as more tears began to fall.

"Get. Out."

"Tell me what's going on!"

"No!" She walked around so she was facing him. He tried, vainly to turn away but it was too late. She had seen everything.

"Look. Draco. I know we don't exactly get along-"

"That's a fucking understatement."

"_But_, as a matter of fact, I don't like to see anyone upset. Even if that 'anyone' is you. So please, Draco, tell me what's wrong."

"I can't." He sniffed and wiped at his cheek.

"Why not?" Her shoulders fell. She clearly wasn't going to find out tonight.

"Because I don't fucking know!" He sat down on his bed, bursting into angry tears. Hermione felt uncomfortable at the prospect of sitting on Draco Malfoy's bed but, one more look at the distressed Slytherin had her sitting beside him, looking concerned. He had turned the light in his room down to a dim glow as to soothe his irritated eyes.

"What do you mean you don't know?"

"Boys aren't supposed to be upset about this kind of thing. My father would laugh if he found out I was crying over this." He ran his hands through his champagne locks, letting his fringe fall over his eyes.

"Did something happen today? While you were out?" He debated whether or not he should tell her. Breaking the silence that had ensued, he spoke quietly.

"Yes. I shouldn't be telling you this but, to be honest; you're the only person who will listen right now. I'm assuming you know what I usually do around this time every Saturday…" He shuffled his feet awkwardly.

"Oh… right… that."

"Well, today I was with this girl in Hogsmeade… and I just didn't feel like doing it… b-but she wouldn't listen…"

"Oh Merlin. Draco… I-" She lightly placed her hand on his shoulder comfortingly. He froze at this gesture of affection but carried on talking before she could finish what she was saying.

"Let me finish. If I don't say it now then I'll never be able to say it."

"Okay. Go ahead." She already knew what was coming. Blinking back tears, she motioned for him to continue.

"She forced me. I… I tried to tell her to stop but she silenced me. I didn't know what to do."

"She… She raped you." Hermione felt her heart shatter as what he had just disclosed hit her like a Stunning spell. He had been raped. This was Draco Malfoy, her enemy, the most arrogant and cocky boy in school, and one girl had reduced him to a wreck. She couldn't help the tears that came. His head hung in his hands as he broke down.

"It's my fault. I should have stopped her. I should have-" She cut him off angrily before he could finish.

"No. This was not your fault. She did this to you and you couldn't do anything about it. It was not your fault. Don't you ever say that. Okay?" He looked up into her amber eyes which were fixed on his and he could tell by her pained expression that he looked like hell. His usual glint and grin had been replaced by eyes that had been rubbed red raw and a broken look of defeat. He sighed and looked to the floor once more as another tear trickled down his cheek.

"How do you know? You weren't there! I was too upset to push her off and… I just know it was my fault." He was startled by Hermione's hand finding his cheek and cupping it so he faced her.

"Look. I don't need to know exactly what happened to know that what that girl did was not your fault." He noticed that she was also crying. He didn't know why. He would have expected her not to be this bothered by what had happened. He knew she wasn't heartless but she was supposed to hate him. Why was she treating him like they were friends? His hand covered hers, removing it from his face and she watched as he didn't immediately drop it. Instead, he held onto her and leaned forward to rest his head on her shoulder. It was with this motion that she realised what had happened. Draco Malfoy was broken and the tears that soaked into her blouse confirmed it. Instinctively, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and hugged him tightly to her chest. He tried to draw away but she wouldn't let him.

"It's okay Draco. Just let it all out."

"You won't tell anyone about this will you, Hermione? About what I just told you?" His voice was muffled against her upper arm, and his words made her hug him protectively. He relaxed as she spoke and wrapped his arms around her waist to hug her closer.

"Of course I won't Draco. You can trust me." Now there was a phrase she never imagined herself saying. After what seemed like an eternity in each other's arms, they finally broke apart, Draco wiping his cheeks free of tears. She offered him a weak smile, unsure of what to do. Dealing with crying Malfoys wasn't exactly her area of expertise. She stood up and straightened her blouse. Draco looked up at her and smirked when his eyes focused on the wet patch decorating her shoulder.

"Sorry about that." He retrieved his wand from one of his bedside cabinets and used it to clear away the remnants of his tear-ridden breakdown. Her eyes narrowed.

"No. You're not allowed to say sorry for your emotions. I won't let you. Now, I made hot chocolate. Do you want some?" He smirked and nodded his head eagerly while watching her move towards his bedroom door.

"Gra- Er… Hermione!" He called after her, making her turn around.

"Yes Draco?" She smiled softly.

"Thank you." He said shyly, pushing his fringe out of the way.

"There's no need. Really. I just hate seeing people cry."

"Even if the person crying is an egotistical dickhead who has practically made your school life a misery?" She was startled at his bluntness, but replied with a small laugh before beckoning him out of the room.

"Yes Draco. Even then." She left the room with him in tow. The two spent the rest of the night talking about idle subjects and laughing over countless cups of hot chocolate. Hermione, through all of this, couldn't help but wonder how Draco was going to cope now he had been through something she wouldn't wish on the worst person in the world. Through her perspective, Draco had a long way to go before he returned to his normal self but she would make sure that he wouldn't be alone in his suffering. They might not be friends… yet. Hell, they weren't even remotely close. But one thing could be certain, she would help him every step of the way.

**I didn't want them to instantly jump into a relationship after what he'd been through as it would just be wrong but I wanted them to at least become closer than they were before. Let me know if you think I should continue it or if it would be better off as just a one-shot. **

**-LMF :/**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: So this happened... Not really sure why...**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. All I own is the plot.**

Steaming hot mug in hand, the tall blond Slytherin made his way to his Gryffindor counterpart's room in hopes she wouldn't be doing more homework. As of late, she had been asking for extra work in most of her lessons to avoid helping her idiotic friends do their long overdue homework. For some reason, The Boy Who Refused To Die and his sidekick Weasel Boy never got into any trouble. On several separate occasions she had sworn this was not the case but Draco had gotten used to her facial expressions and instantly knew when she was lying. Her eyes often grew wide in mock disbelief and her nose scrunched up as if she had smelled something foul. He found these motions to be extremely predictable but had neglected to inform her when she gave herself away. Over the last couple of weeks, the two had become sort-of friends in a way and Hermione had been assisting him in the recuperation of his charisma. They didn't interact in public but once the doors of the head dorms shut, they instantly resumed speaking to each other as equals. Obviously, on more than one occasion, Draco had thrown in the odd insult to their conversations but Hermione knew that it was his way of moving on and dealing with his trauma and knew to pass it off as nothing. In fact, Draco without insults seemed too surreal and was almost like Harry without his scar or Ron without his constant ravenous appetite. For once, she didn't see Draco insulting her as a bad thing. She saw it as a return to normality.

He crossed the room, heading to her desk at the far side and stopping directly behind her chair. Her brown curls were pushed to the back of her head and secured with a jewelled hair slide. She hadn't noticed his arrival, having been absorbed into the slightly-yellowing pages of a large, leather-bound, Transfiguration book. He took note of the haphazard state of her desk and raised his eyebrow. She would never leave her desk like this unless she had no other choice. He came to the conclusion that she must have taken on a lot of work. He set the mug down next to her and smirked as she jerked at his presence. After staring amused at her expressed surprise, he finally spoke.

"You really need to pay attention to your surroundings, Hermione. I could have been You-Know-Who for all you know."

"You wouldn't let him into the room though, would you?" She smiled, cockily.

"I don't know. Maybe we need a bit of excitement in our lives at the moment. Considering all you've been doing is studying and all I've been doing is trying to stop you from studying. You could at least let up a bit. It is Sunday, you know?" He raised his eyebrow at her.

"I know I've been doing a lot of work..."

"That's an understatement."

"...but I have good reason."

"The reason can't be so good that you can't take a break once in a while. Do you know how many times I've had to tell your disheartened groupies that you're busy? I'm starting to think that I'm more of a Secretary than Head Boy."

She sighed knowingly. Her expression softened and she stood up. He handed her the cup of coffee he'd made and the two of them went to the common room. Today Hermione had gone with a combination of black shorts with a dark red blouse while Draco had opted for a green button up with black slacks.

"What does that quote even mean anyways? The one on your mug that is. I mean, there are birds that can survive perfectly well without needing to fly, ostriches for example." Draco changed the subject as the bushy-haired girl took a sip of her coffee.

"I think he was just referencing the majority of birds that do need to fly." she replied as she used her wand to cool down the cup.

"He being…?" Her roommate narrowed his eyes and motioned for her to continue.

"Salvador Dali." He looked at her, a puzzled expression on his face. "Oh come on! You have to know who Salvador Dali is!"

He shrugged. "Nope. Can't say I do."

"The artist! He painted 'The Persistence of Memory'!" She just-about slammed her mug down onto the coffee table, much to his surprise. He was still confused.

"What?"

"The painting with all the melting clocks!" She persisted, wide-eyed and emphatic. His face broke into a smile as shrugged his reply.

"Melting clocks? That's bizarre."

"Oh my God!" She threw her arms up in defeat as he laughed at her frustration. He was getting used to the quirky, idiotic conversations they had when they were alone. In public she was so uptight and stressed, which was probably the reason people did not seem to like her, but when she was relaxing like this, she came off as a completely different person. Until a couple of days ago, he had neglected to notice the way she found it comfortable to sit with her knees pulled up and off to the side, and the way she tucked her hair behind her ears when she was interested in a conversation topic. Her voice broke this train of thought. She sounded concerned.

"Um… Draco? You okay there? You were kind of staring." Her brows furrowed as he shook his head.

"Sorry. Got distracted." He laughed it off sheepishly, before glancing quickly at the clock so as to avoid her quizzical gaze. A resounding knock drew silence across the room as Draco stopped laughing and collected his mug before heading to the kitchen.

"Who is it?" Hermione crossed the room and stood directly next to the door. Unlike most of the common rooms and offices, the Head dormitories had a properly labelled door so as to be available to younger students seeking help or advice from older, more experienced students. It locked automatically and was positioned next to a portrait of an old man perched at a desk who only asked Draco, Hermione or any of the teachers for the password to let them in.

"It's Ginny, 'Mione. We were supposed to have a girls' afternoon. Remember?" She heard a loud snort of laughter from across the room and rolled her eyes at the youngest Malfoy.

"Looks like we're going to have to go back to hating each other for a few hours." The brunette whispered to him.

"I can deal with a few hours peace." He said, grinning smugly.

"Oh shut up, you! Don't pretend you don't enjoy my company."

"Did I say that? Anyway, I have a Potions essay to do which can help pass the time. Enjoy your 'girly day'." He stalked off to his room, sniggering whilst Hermione opened the door. Her red-haired friend enveloped her in a hug as soon as she had stepped over the threshold.

"Hi! Merlin, we haven't spent any time together lately. How have you been? How's things with the blond prick?" asked Ginny, gesturing to Draco's room.

"The blond prick hasn't shut his bedroom door yet and can hear everything you're saying Weaslette." grumbled Draco from across the room. "Honestly, doesn't your mother know that manners don't cost anything so she can actually afford to teach you them?"

"Shut the fuck up, you judgmental son of a-"

"Shutting the door now!" With a flick of his wand the two girls were alone and Hermione invited Ginny to sit down on the couch. Ginny swept her long red hair over her shoulder and sat down next to her friend. The brunette noticed that Ginny was wearing more makeup than usual and an extremely low- cut top, showing off the top of her breasts, and Hermione could make out the line of her underwear through her tiny skirt. The older girl said nothing but, was silently confused and curious about the other's appearance. Her question was answered by Ginny's next announcement.

"Like my outfit?" She giggled, going slightly pink, "Harry is taking me to Hogsmeade for dinner in apologies for not spending as much time with me lately. He's so sweet. Oh, I hope you don't mind that I have to cut our day short do you? I just never see him lately and, as much as I love spending time with you, he is my boyfriend."

"Oh. No! I don't mind! You go and enjoy yourself! I have some work I need to be getting on with anyway." smiled Hermione, reassuringly.

"We can still make the most of our time together now, though! Here, Luna taught me this really pretty thing you can do with your hair. Can I try it out on you?" Ginny shifted so the gap between them was smaller and started to pick at Hermione's hair. The older girl hated people playing with her hair and cast a silent Numbing spell on her scalp whilst Ginny got to work, weaving her brown locks into intricate plaits that swirled around the back of her head. For the rest of the day, the duo experimented with each other's hair, Hermione listened to Ginny gossip about people in her year, Ginny sighed as Hermione talked about books, Ginny complained about Draco, and Hermione apologised profusely for not spending enough time with her red-haired friend. Throughout the limited number of hours, Ginny had re-applied her makeup four times and asked her friend's opinion on her appearance twelve times.

"For Merlin's sake, Ginny! You look fine!"

"Just fine? I was aiming for sexy." the redhead pouted, once again checking her hair in Hermione's mirror. The brunette had helped her give it a slight curl and she wouldn't stop getting worked up about it going awry when she went outside.

"Trust me. Harry loves you no matter what you look like." Ginny sighed and picked at her fringe again. Hermione made her way over to the mirror to give her a hug. "You look beautiful, Ginny. Now, it's almost time. You might want to get going."

"Right. Thanks Mione. My hair looks great."

"Glad to be of service. Now go! Enjoy yourself!" Ginny couldn't get out of the door fast enough and the girls embraced one last time before the redhead almost sprinted down the corridor. Closing the door behind her, the Gryffindor threw herself onto the couch and lay down to relax. She heard another door open and close but kept her eyes closed, knowing it was only Draco emerging from his bedroom.

"Merlin, the Weaslette could talk for England if she wanted to." His footsteps drew closer and stopped when Hermione presumed he was in front of her. He sighed loudly as he stared down at apparently sleeping form. "I know you're awake, idiot. You going to let me sit down or am I going to have to Transfigure you into a cushion?" Hermione couldn't help but laugh and opened her eyes to the sight of his smiling face staring down at her. She shifted over and let him sit next to her.

"She's not that bad when you can calm her down. It's just that she's going on a date with Harry and-" He cut her off, chuckling slightly, and checked his watch before turning to look at her.

"It's almost dinnertime. We might want to start heading down. That is unless, you want to eat here? We do have a kitchen for a reason."

"It depends. What have we got?" She leaned over the back of the sofa as he went to check the cupboards.

"Almost nothing really. We could ask the house elves to bring something up for- oh! Jam!" He took the almost empty jar out of the cupboard triumphantly, turning around to show her, before stopping abruptly as soon as his eyes landed on the window. A large tawny owl had appeared in the open window-frame with a bright blue envelope addressed to him sitting in its beak. His eyes widened in shock and he slowly replaced the jar.

"Oh. You have mail." She said, following his line of sight, "Who uses bright blue stationary? Well… Beauxbatons. But theirs is more of a sky blue than… Draco? Are you okay?" She often found herself asking him that question. Lately, the blond's emotions had been all over the place and she had grown to be concerned about his mental wellbeing. He seemed to be physically distressed by the presence of the owl and its mysterious letter. "Do you want me to get it for you?"

He didn't answer and just stared at the immaculate handwriting spelling his name out on the blue paper.

"Draco?" Still no answer.

"The owl is going to get really angry if you don't g-" She was cut short by his sudden departure from the common room into his bedroom. Not wanting to anger the owl any further, Hermione retrieved the aquamarine envelope and set it down on the coffee table. She had become accustomed to the slam of his door but wanted to know how a simple mail delivery had upset him so much. He hadn't even opened the letter. Brown hair flying out behind her, she darted over to his bedroom door and knocked on it abruptly.

"Draco? What's wrong?" All noises from the other side of the door, stopped and she heard shuffling. The door opened a small crack and Hermione could just make out one silver orb peeking through. He was crying again.

"The letter." He finally spoke, his voice trembling.

"What about the letter?" Her hand pushed the door open a little bit more. It looked as if he was finding it extremely difficult to speak.

"It's from her."

"Who?" she asked, puzzled.

"Her." And Hermione realized. The girl that turned Draco into a wreck.

**A/N: Happy New Year! (Bit late I know, sorry) Hopefully 2015 won't be full of as many regrets as 2014… Anyway, I have decided to give AQAADE one more try (chapter) and if people don't like it I will not continue. All things aside, I hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Year.**

**-LMF**


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